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EST: 2010: Bookworms will rule the world...after we finish one more chapter!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Author Spotlight: David Moody, Author of the Autumn Series + A Giveaway!

David Moody is the author of the popular HATER and AUTUMN series. His books are available in print or e-book format. Click here to buy the books

Moody grew up on a diet of horror movies and post-apocalyptic fiction. After reading Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids and H G Wells’ War of the Worlds, and watching the original Night of the Living Dead in the middle of the night during an epic thunderstorm, he was hooked. ‘It was the power of these stories which really got to me, the way that events outside the control of any authority might one day impact on absolutely everyone.’...Continue Reading

MONSTERS: YOU DON’T SCARE ME!

First, I’d like to thank Cathy for inviting me to blog here today. She’s been a great supporter of my AUTUMN series, but not everyone who has read the books has felt the same way. I’ll try and explain...

It’s almost Halloween. I don’t know about you, but whenever anyone says the word Halloween to me, my mind immediately fills with images of people in bizarre costumes: vampires, zombies, werewolves, witches and ghosts walking the streets without anyone giving them a second glance. But are they scary? No matter how good their costumes might be, I don’t think so.

As a horror writer, I spend a lot of time (too much, probably) trying to work out what frightens people, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not always the monsters. Sure, I accept there’s usually a fear/revulsion factor at play – a rotting corpse is never going to be your best friend and you wouldn’t choose (let me put it another way for readers of a certain series of popular books: you shouldn’t choose) to take a vampire or werewolf out on a date or home to meet your parents, but it’s often not the creatures themselves that put the horror into horror stories. It’s the situations they create. For me, the key to a truly terrifying story is reading about characters I’ve come to care about, trapped in dire situations which seem out of their control.

Let me reference a few horror favourites to prove my point.

Have you seen SHAUN OF THE DEAD? Lots of people classify it as a zombie comedy, and I guess that’s a fair description. But I prefer to think of it as a straight-up zombie thriller, which just happens to have a cast full of amiable idiots. In the classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, the lethargic hungry dead outside the farmhouse seem to present less of a threat at times than the terrified ‘normal’ people trapped inside. Thinking about more recent horror stories, what about LET THE RIGHT ONE IN? Call it a vampire novel if you like (and again, it is), but it’s much more than that. Personally, I think of it more as a story about the beautiful, impossible friendship between two innocent children, one of whom just happens to be an ancient blood-sucker who has to kill to stay alive. THE FLY is another – not a ruthless killer, just a decent guy who cut corners and made a small, but life-altering, mistake. I could go on and on, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll just point you towards a new anthology edited by Christopher Golden: THE MONSTER’S CORNER. In it you’ll find 19 stories told from the monster’s perspective. My story, BIG MAN, is a riff on that old B-movie, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN: if you’re hundreds of feet tall, no matter what you do you won’t be able to help stepping on a few folks and crushing the occasional building! Do you see what I mean? Delve deep into the psyche of any monster and you’ll see that many of them are not frightening at all – they’re just misunderstood! They don’t see themselves as the villains, it’s us that give them that label!

To go back to my earlier comment about my AUTUMN books... it’s a real frustration of mine that so many people see the word ‘zombie’ and immediately jump to conclusions. The books are often criticised because people don’t get what they expect – unlike most other zombie novels, there’s no flesh eating, no guns, no huge amounts of gore, very little violence and few obvious heroes.

That’s because the AUTUMN series isn’t really about the living dead at all; it’s about people trying to rebuild their lives after a cataclysmic event, and those scared, bewildered, selfish, angry, paranoid, desperate and sometimes stupid people just happen to be surrounded by thousands upon thousands of walking corpses! It’s a subtle shift in perspective, but I think it makes all the difference.

I'd like to thank David Moody for stopping by The Crazy Bookworm. I absolutely loved this guest post! David has been kind enough to offer a giveaway of the first 3 books in the AUTUMN series...Signed! to one lucky winner. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this! To enter the giveaway, clickHERE.

My brother recently turned me on to the HATER series...absolutely awesome series! The Autumn series is at the top of my list to read next! (Oh yeah, and consider this my extra entry into the contest as well...)

First of all, Thank you for your work David!! My cousin was the first person who show me the world of zombies! He's so fascinated with all books related to zombies that i was instanly attach too when he mention it to me!! Maybe this is irrelevant but i love watching The Walking Dead! Good Serie!! I love it! And I would love to read the Autumn Series! Thank you so much for the giveaway! you guys rock!!

Welcome!

Hi! I'm Cathy and I'm the creator of this little space on the internet. By day, I am a Yoga instructor and by night I am an avid reader and a book blogger.

Like all book bloggers, I created this website to have a platform to rant or rave about the latest book I just read, book trends, and more! As much as this space is for me, it is for you! I work to better this little website every day so you enjoy your visit!